RadioShack Declares Chapter 11
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We are losing two stores in our community and their regional warehouse that employees about 100.
I guess they just didn't keep up with the time and the need for their offering was made less relevant by the internet. I still go in to my store occasionally for a cable, etc. Most o the time, they did have what I needed. It seems that cell phones were a big part of their business recently.
When I was in High School, their audio components weren't bad. I still have a pair of RS bookshelf speakers from the 80's in my garage. As a 16 year old, going to my local mall, stopping at RS to see the stereo equipment and car audio was a must. This was before the Circuit City/Best Buy, etc. days so they were the only game in my rural town.
I guess they just didn't keep up with the time and the need for their offering was made less relevant by the internet. I still go in to my store occasionally for a cable, etc. Most o the time, they did have what I needed. It seems that cell phones were a big part of their business recently.
When I was in High School, their audio components weren't bad. I still have a pair of RS bookshelf speakers from the 80's in my garage. As a 16 year old, going to my local mall, stopping at RS to see the stereo equipment and car audio was a must. This was before the Circuit City/Best Buy, etc. days so they were the only game in my rural town.
Yep another one bites the dust. The bonds were trading at 9.6% or 9.6 cents on the $ the last I looked. There are more credit swap agreements out on those damned things then there are bonds to make delivery. Someone is going to catch a nasty cold on that one fairly shortly especially since no ones selling so I see a very interesting squeeze taking place as the last throw from this dead old corpse! I would image the share holders will get wiped out in the 11 filing, they usually always are, but the debt boys look set for an interesting ride! Financial recycling at it best. 
The only thing that surprises me is that it's lasted this long. That store got lost in the digital age once iPods, iPhones, iPads and such came out. Not bashing the store, I loved going there as a kid and picking out a new remote control car or what not.
A adapt or die. I bet some are getting tired of reading that. When you have a store full of stuff people or no longer buying, you need to find wares people want or close the doors. Radio Shack was never particularly agile, they were and are very focused. At one time they pretty much defined the electronics market for DIY types, ham radio operators and electronic toys.
There are still places to feed the need of noodling around with electronics, but Radio Shack was really handy in their day. My age group, Radio Shack's main customer base, is steadily shrinking and they were way behind the curve when it came to attracting a younger base. Model trains may go down the same road. No longer does a person interested in RC flight need to learn the sometimes tedious skills necessary to build a plane. One can purchase them, fairly cheaply from booths in the arcades of malls, find a field, perhaps the West Lawn at the White House, and start flying, drones, helicopters and the like.
I'm sure GenXers will look back fondly on their childhood as the world rapidly passes them by in a few years.
Maybe, I'll visit the last remaining hobby shop in my area and pick up a P-51 to build and paint. I think I could still do that. I loved working with my hands and creating a little something I could proudly display. I miss that and I'll miss the Radio Shack.
I have been thinking about an HO layout. Just what I need, a new avenue for spending, both moneys and time. I'm guessing here, but I think certain childhood diversions demand resurrecting as we get older. I think it's a bit of wanting to go back to that simpler time where we were mostly wrapped in that warm racoon of parental protection, safe neighborhoods and caring neighbors. It's a good thing nostalgia has filters!
Boy, did I get off target. Sorry about the trip down memory lane. How does one stray from a purely economic to building toys and childhood? Old age + great memories = maudlin drivel. Where in the world did I lay my normal cynicism?
There are still places to feed the need of noodling around with electronics, but Radio Shack was really handy in their day. My age group, Radio Shack's main customer base, is steadily shrinking and they were way behind the curve when it came to attracting a younger base. Model trains may go down the same road. No longer does a person interested in RC flight need to learn the sometimes tedious skills necessary to build a plane. One can purchase them, fairly cheaply from booths in the arcades of malls, find a field, perhaps the West Lawn at the White House, and start flying, drones, helicopters and the like.
I'm sure GenXers will look back fondly on their childhood as the world rapidly passes them by in a few years.
Maybe, I'll visit the last remaining hobby shop in my area and pick up a P-51 to build and paint. I think I could still do that. I loved working with my hands and creating a little something I could proudly display. I miss that and I'll miss the Radio Shack.
I have been thinking about an HO layout. Just what I need, a new avenue for spending, both moneys and time. I'm guessing here, but I think certain childhood diversions demand resurrecting as we get older. I think it's a bit of wanting to go back to that simpler time where we were mostly wrapped in that warm racoon of parental protection, safe neighborhoods and caring neighbors. It's a good thing nostalgia has filters!
Boy, did I get off target. Sorry about the trip down memory lane. How does one stray from a purely economic to building toys and childhood? Old age + great memories = maudlin drivel. Where in the world did I lay my normal cynicism?
+1 on Patrick.
I used to be able to go into a Radio Shack and not only buy parts for repair of building projects, but I could get good advice, too. Bit by bit the components vanished from the shelves. No IC's, no resistors, capacitors or switches. No project boxes, diodes or PC board making stuff. The last several times that I went in for audio connectors and wire, they didn't have what I really needed, and everything else was the cheapest crap that you could imagine. That was several yeas ago, have not been back in since.
adioS is right.
I used to be able to go into a Radio Shack and not only buy parts for repair of building projects, but I could get good advice, too. Bit by bit the components vanished from the shelves. No IC's, no resistors, capacitors or switches. No project boxes, diodes or PC board making stuff. The last several times that I went in for audio connectors and wire, they didn't have what I really needed, and everything else was the cheapest crap that you could imagine. That was several yeas ago, have not been back in since.
adioS is right.
Patrick, I have been a Ham radio operator since the 1970's. I can remember building a Heathkit SWR meter, Heathkit phone patch, and a notch filter for 2m SSB from a kit. Non-kit projects were a 4-element Quad antenna and an antenna tuner with a big roller inductor. Other than those I can't remember ever building a thing and none of that came from RadioShack. Just remembered I did play with Slow-Scan TV for a while but again the transmitter & receiver were AE kits.
I think the last time I was in a RadioShack store I was looking for an HDMI cable so you know how long that's been. I've been totally wireless with just laptops & tablets or iPads for at least 10 yrs.
I think the last time I was in a RadioShack store I was looking for an HDMI cable so you know how long that's been. I've been totally wireless with just laptops & tablets or iPads for at least 10 yrs.
Electronics business is staying ahead of the curve. Lose that and you have nothing to sell. The last
thing I bought at Radio Shack was a battery for a cordless phone, but I discovered later I could have
replaced the whole phone for about the same price. Several years before that, I bought a household
walkie-talky that was a piece of junk. So I experienced the business fading first hand. Sad.
thing I bought at Radio Shack was a battery for a cordless phone, but I discovered later I could have
replaced the whole phone for about the same price. Several years before that, I bought a household
walkie-talky that was a piece of junk. So I experienced the business fading first hand. Sad.
My first real job was at RadioShack, It's sad to see the brand disappear.
The end of RadioShack it's the result of two factors: the decline on DIY electronics that happened on the 80's-90's, and the lack of action to redo the brand and concentrate on the new market of DIY digital electronics (arduino, Parallax, Raspberry pi) instead of trying to cover the cellphone market (market that is already oversaturated of sellers and resellers of phones and accessories, you can find at least five stores on every shopping mall!!!)...
Like some of you pointed, I buy most of the components that I need for my radios or projects like antennas and others online... last time that I stopped at the store I was not even able to find some PL239!
The end of RadioShack it's the result of two factors: the decline on DIY electronics that happened on the 80's-90's, and the lack of action to redo the brand and concentrate on the new market of DIY digital electronics (arduino, Parallax, Raspberry pi) instead of trying to cover the cellphone market (market that is already oversaturated of sellers and resellers of phones and accessories, you can find at least five stores on every shopping mall!!!)...
Like some of you pointed, I buy most of the components that I need for my radios or projects like antennas and others online... last time that I stopped at the store I was not even able to find some PL239!
It's sad to see any long time business disappear....I'm sure people lamented the blacksmith closing up shop due to these damn horseless carriages!
Or you do what my grandfather did. He was a harness maker when he came to this country and figured out that horse drawn conveyances were on their way out with the emergence of the automobile. So he opened up an auto body and mechanical repair shop. That business, Jake's Auto Body, is still going, serving Waterbury Connecticutt, though it hasn't been in the family for 50 years.
You change and adapt with the times or you get replaced. Radioshack was designed for a certain era. Now there are a lot of alternatives. What will be missed is the convenience of having a decently stocked shop within close proximity of wherever you are.
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